Toxic
by Arithese
Summary: It was simple mission, observe and get out, but it all went to hell so quickly the moment Kid Flash sacrificed himself to spare Robin. No character death, rated T


16th February, 2011. (Year 1)

It wasn't meant to be a difficult mission, just a simple check-up mission, go in and report back to Batman. The mission wasn't meant to be put upside down so quickly, it wasn't meant to be fucked up so quickly. It went well at first, and everything went to hell so quickly afterwards. Within seconds everything turned around.

Against their favour.

"Kid, Robin, go around back. Remember, this is a covert recon mission. Do not engage." Kaldur whispers, and both KF and Robin nod before slowly making their way around the building. Kid Flash was currently wearing his camouflage suit to blend in with the dark forest surrounding them right now while Robin was wearing his usual costume.

Which was already more or less camouflage ready to begin with.

The two teens slowly made their way to the back of the building, while Aqualad, Superboy and Artemis walked over to the front of the building to find a way in. Unfortunately the last mission had not gone very well, resulting in M'gann being exposed to fire for a long period of time. So both Batman and J'onn made her sit this one out.

Which meant the mind link would not be an option for this mission.

The trio quickly made their way into the building, not speaking a single word in the process in fear of alerting their enemy. The inside was pretty much like an ordinary villainy stake-out. However, the top of the building had quickly given away the owner of the building, or at least the one currently using it, poison Ivy.

According to Batman she has been spotted, along with numerous henchman, talking to dealers from Australia. So he sent the team to check it out, with clear instructions to not engage.

The top of the building was made of glass, those greenhouse types. They were clearly used for growing plants of some kind. It was the goal of the young justice to find out what exactly Poison Ivy was planning on doing with those plants, and what kind of plants she was growing. And most importantly, what the connection between Australia was.

"No sign of Poison Ivy so far" Kaldur whispers, making his way over to the monitors in the room.

"How the hell did she escape in the first place?! I thought she was still locked up with the rest of the injustice league" Artemis exclaims in a husked voice, otherwise being completely silent.

Kaldur sighs while shaking his head slightly, yet not diverting his focus from the screens. "Even Batman has no idea" He mutters as a reply.

YJ

"Dude, you've been awfully quiet" KF hisses as they make their way over to the back of the building. Robin stiffens slightly and Wally cocks an eyebrow. "What, didn't think I'd notice?"

Robin sighs, not looking at his best friends. Instead he tries to keep himself busy with hacking the electric door that was currently holding them from entering the building. KF sighs as well, making his way over to his best friend. He crouches down and places a soft hand on Robi- Dick's shoulders.

"Dude, you gotta give me more credit than that. You're my best bud, I know when somethings up."

Robin sighs, looking at Wally's green eyes for the first time that day. "I know." He whispers with a small smile on his face. "It's just.. Zucco was admitted to a hospital"

"The mobster guy who was behind.." _Your parents death_ Wally silently added, not daring to speak the full sentence out loud. Both for their secret ID and hurting his best friend that way. Robin nods with a stoic expression.

"That's the guy" He eventually agrees. "Let's just focus on the mission first okay? I'll tell you when we get back" At this, Wally's expression softens.

"Dude, you know you don't have to right?"

Robin turned to his best friend, smirking to answer Wally's question, a smirk that Wally quickly answered with his own. The silent conversation only lasted a couple of seconds before Robin focused on the door again. Another couple of seconds pass before a satisfying click was heard as a sign that the door was unlocked.

"Robin to Aqualad, the door is open. Did you find anything already?" Robin asks, putting a finger on his earpiece.

"Poison Ivy was indeed working with people from Australia. A couple of them were working in the rainforest in the North East of Australia, Queensland."

"So what were they dealing in?" Robin questions, rubbing his chin slightly and his eyes narrowing behind his domino mask.

"Plants, from what I've gathered. The question is what kind of plants, I don't think Poison Ivy would go through all this trouble for a normal plant"

"Me neither, let me know if you find something else"

"Same goes for you Robin. Aqualad out"

The Boy Wonder was met with silence after the last sentence and he looked up to his best friend, signalling him to follow. KF nods in response and quietly follows Robin inside the building. It was almost completely dark inside. Typical low-lit lamps were on the walls, and those were the only light source along with the light of the moon coming through the glass roof.

"I don't think this is the kind of plant she'd transport from Australia" KF whispers, pointing at all the roses that were growing in the room. Robin grimaces slightly.

"Don't be fooled, anything that's cute is deadly in Australia" Robin smirks, turning away from the plants. KF snickers in response, following Robin to another door. Apart from the false information Robin just said, which was clearly a joke, these plants were definitely not the ones they were looking for.

Robin once again took the job of opening the door. It was part of their superhero training but admittedly Robin was the best one to do something like that on the team, having trained with Batman for 5 years now.

When the click once again resonated through the room Robin straightens up with a satisfying grin on his face before he pushes the door open. However, the moment he walks into the room he stops, his eyes going impossibly wide behind his mask.

"Rob?" KF calls out in a husked voice, and then his eyes go impossibly wide as well as he sees the red liquid dripping down Robin's face. "Dude, nosebleeds are my thing" He whispers but the worry is more than evident.

Though before either could comment on it their communicator was activated.

"Get out of there NOW!" Aqualad yells from the other side of the line. And the fact that he didn't call their names was enough for them to know he was being serious, and they needed to act _quickly_. However, before either of them could bolt they were stopped by none other than Poison Ivy.

"Leaving so soon?" She mocks with a devilish smile, being held in the air by her plants. "Don't you wanna meet my babies?"

"Kid, Robin, whatever you do, don't touch her plants!" Aqualad screams from the other side. "Artemis follow me. Supey, burst through the walls, they can't affect you!" Quickly followed by static and a large crack resonating from right behind.

 _Don't touch her plants_.

So when the plants came straight for them, KF did the only thing he could think of and ran over to his best bud, pushing him out of the way with all the speed he could muster from the short distance. Robin tumbled to the ground, safe and out of reach for the attack but KF wasn't fast to get Robin to safety _and_ get to safety himself.

He expected pain to hit him, he expected to be slammed into the wall. The latter happened, but he was only vaguely aware that he had hit the wall next to him. It wasn't even pain that he was feeling, it hurt too much for it to be pain. The moment the plants had hit him everything lit up, his whole body was being dunked with acid.

There was no possible way to describe it.

Everything hurt.

A scream wrenched itself out of his mouth and he curled up to a ball, trembling on the ground.

YJ

One moment he was seeing the plants nearing him, the next moment he was rolling onto the ground, landing harshly on his side. Dick's eyes widened, gazing at the withering form of his best friend.

"KF!" He screams, unable to check on his best friend as Ivy directed her attack to him. The Boy Wonder narrowed his eyes, jumping out of the way and throwing several explosive batarangs at the plants heading for him. Immediately after connecting the batarangs detonated, the shrieking of Poison Ivy louder than the explosion.

"My babies!" She shrieked, glaring at the boy wonder. "You will pay for this Boy Wonder" She snared, causing more plants to rise up from the ground. Different ones than the ones that attacked Wally. And yet, able to bring him down just as well. Robin hastily dodges the attacks, throwing more batarangs mid-jump.

This time however Poison Ivy moved her 'babies' out of the way, causing Robin's batarangs to hit the wall behind him. The building shook dangerously from the shock, but didn't collapse, _yet._

The moment Robin jumped out of the way, Poison Ivy bolted towards the room where Robin and KF were just before the attack.

 _The plants!_

Robin gasped mentally, but she never made it towards the room, as Supey literally flew through the wall, sending a strong punch towards her jaw. Knowing Supey could handle Poison Ivy for now, the Boy Wonder ran towards his best friend.

"KF!" Robin yelled in worry, trying to coax Wally on his back. The only response the latter gave was a pained groan, curling himself up as tight as possible. Tears were freely streaming down his face and his cheek was covered with nasty looking rashes. His whole form was trembling, vibrating almost, from the apparent pain he was in.

And for a rare moment, Robin didn't know what to do. A bullet wound, a stab, a broken bone, he'd know what to do. But he had no idea what caused this reaction. Poison, but he had no idea what kind, or if it was just an allergic reaction. He had no idea how to help his best friend.

"Robin, wha-" Aqualad's voice came but he stopped midsentence, eyes falling onto the trembling figure of Wally. "Did he get hit?" Aqualad asked, trying to keep the clear panic from his voice. Robin nodded silently, eyes pleading behind his mask.

"Give me your batarangs, we need to destroy the building" Aqualad suddenly urged, eyes switching between Wally's form and the battle between Supey and Poison Ivy.

Supey was strong, invulnerable to the plants toxin's, but there was a reason Ivy was a challenge for Batman, she was quick, and skilled.

"I can do it" Robin said confidentially, yet confused.

"Robin, you need to get Wally out of here. The plant that is in there is highly poisonous. Even being near will harm you. My skin is dense enough to protect me"

Unconsciously Robin reached for his face, his fingers ghosting along the blood that was caking his face, and the blood that was still slowly but steadily streaming out of his nose. But honestly, it was the pained groan from Wally that made him nod, handing over as much batarangs as he could. He trusted Aqualad as his leader.

But most importantly, as his friend, his brother.

Robin reached for wally, wrapping his hands around the ginger's wrist and turning around so Wally's arms were around the neck of the Boy Wonder. The latter huffed slightly at the sudden weight. It wasn't like Wally was really that heavy, after all there was no spare meat on his body due to his high metabolism, but Robin had never been the strongest one.

Even while trained by the big bad bat, he wasn't as toned as him. And he was only 14 years old after all. But nevertheless he had no problem carrying Wally. Robin narrowed his eyes slightly, tightening the grip he had on Wally before bolting towards the door as fast as he could without tiring himself out too soon.

"Rob, Wally!" Came the voice from Artemis the moment they exited the building. "Oh god" She whispers as her eyes fell on Wally's form.

"Did he touc- shit, of course he did" Artemis mumbled. "Get him inside the bioship, we need to get home as fast as possible" She urged, pointing at the bioship that was now standing behind them, already open and ready to take off.

"Artemis!" Robin hisses, albeit reluctantly following Artemis to the bioship. "What is happening? Why weren't you with Aqualad? Why couldn't I-"

The Boy Wonder was abruptly caught off when Artemis backhanded him, hard. Her face remained stoic, eyes slightly squinting at her younger teammate. Robin grimaced slightly, but flashed a smile knowing that he was rambling, and panicking. Batman would kill him if he'd hear about this.

"Later, we need to blow up that building first" Artemis stated like it was the most obvious thing and gave Robin a slight push towards the bioship.

"And before you ask, there is nothing you can do right now besides not touching his face" Artemis growled before Robin could ask any more questions. Aside from the situation, and his best friend writhing in pain on his back, he smirked knowingly. Artemis was clearly worried sick about her teammate and boyfriend.

Artemis' footsteps leaving the bioship were heard and Robin rushed inside the bioship, sitting Wally down and allowing his best friend to lean against his chest. He gently reached for his cowl, removing it from his face to reveal his freckled face. Most of the time filled with joy and happiness, now filled with unbearable pain.

"Wally, you okay man?" Robin whispered, keeping his hands off the rash filled side of Wally's face, where he was supposedly hit with the plant. Robin cringed slightly at the sound of the explosion but kept his attention on Wally.

His eyes were now slightly open, clouded with pain. "H-hurts" He rasped, trying to grant his best friend a miserable smile. "W-worse than… than A-Arty k-kicking .. me i-in the b-balls"

Robin huffed out a laugh. "Ouch dude" He responded and Wally rewarded him with a slight grin, only for it to disappear seconds after that. "Wally?" Rob whispered but was only answered by a pained groan, beads of sweat working their way down the ginger's face.

"How is he?" Aqualad's calm voice sounded through the bioship, his concerned eyes focusing on his younger teammate.

"Not good" Robin mumbled back, eyeing at Superboy behind Aqualad.

"We need to get moving quick Kaldur" Artemis butts in, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere. "Connor, can you take Wally over, Rob is injured as well"

"I'm not.. injured" The young teammate frowns, perfectly aware of his still bleeding nose. Artemis looks far from pleased, not even budging as Kaldur starts up the bioship and takes off.

"You either come with me willingly or I'll plug your nose with tampons" Artemis growls and Connor's expression goes from uncomfortable to horrified in a few seconds.

"I'd like to see you try" Robin mumbles but reluctantly takes Wally off his chest, manoeuvring him until he was laying against Connor's chest, the ginger immediately curling up from the pain.

Artemis smirks slightly at her victory and watches as Robin sits down on a chair the closest to Wally as possible. Artemis' smirks falters as she watches Robin gaze towards his best friend and she gently tipped his head to the side, pressing a towel against his bleeding nose.

A year ago he would've protested, would've said he could handle it, but now he didn't. They were a team, and over the last 8 or so months they've become close, trusting each other and letting them help each other.

"I want an explanation" Robin speaks up, voice muffled by the now bloody tissue in front of his face. Artemis nods, replacing the tissue with another one.

"In a sec" She replies and puts her finger on the communicator in her ear. "Artemis to watchtower, this is urgent" She says, trying to sound calm and collected but the waver in her voice gave her away.

There was a response on the other side of the line but Robin couldn't hear it.

"Kid Flash was stung by the Gympie Gympie plant, he's gonna need medical attention." Artemis replied and Rob's eyes widened.

The Gympie Gympie plant? He heard about that plant ones. A plant originating from.. Australia. Once stung it causes one of the worst pain known to man. Horses and other animals that were stung would jump off of cliffs to end the pain. There have even been cases in which people shot themselves to death because the pain became too much.

The boy wonder swallowed nervously, looking at his best friend.

And with his metabolism, the pain spreads even faster. Robin curses inwards, gently pushing Artemis' hand aside and crouching down next to Supey and Wally.

Supey eyes at him, seemingly uncomfortable with the situation. Something he always was when one of his teammates got hurt in any way. He just didn't know how to help someone, with his super strength and all, little did he know that Wally was taking great comfort in the bear hug he was in right now.

"This is bad" Robin states, looking back at Artemis. "His armpits are already swollen. I know this plant, this shouldn't happen this fast. His metabolism is acting up"

"He's gonna be okay, he has to be" Artemis says, strolling towards her boyfriend as well. The latter was still softly groaning in pain, whimpering every time a spasm wracked through his body. His teeth were clenched and yet clattering every second, forcing a scream back that was desperately trying to escape his mouth.

"Hey Baywatch" Artemis whispers, taking Wally's hand and rubbing it with her thumb, trying to be as gentle as possible. Wally gave her no reaction, no sign that he had seen her. His eyes were partly open but they were glazed over with pain, so much pain.

"You're gonna be okay Wally" She whispered at the silence that followed her statement, gently pushing his sweaty hair out of his face.

YJ

"Hey kiddo" Barry whispered, gently nudging his nephew. He almost seemed to be asleep. Eyes shut and his form curled up against Supey's chest. But the constant trembling, and twitching of his eyelids was a dead give-away that the pain refused to let him go to sleep, refused him to escape the pain.

"Dad?' Wally croaks, voice filled with excruciating pain and exhaustion.

Barry's stomach twisted slightly, but there was no fear in Wally's voice, only relief. And that's when Barry realised that Wally was addressing him.

"I'm here" He responded, gently reaching out and taking his nephew from Superboy's hold. "You're gonna be okay hot rod." He adds and Wally nods feverishly, his limbs twitching slightly in Barry's hold.

"Make it stop" Wally mumbles, his voice so soft it's barely audible. "H-hurts" A shiver wracks through his body as another wave of pain makes itself known, causing Wally to curl himself up tighter.

"I know kiddo, I know"

YJ

The first thing Wally felt when he woke up was the soreness all over his body. His body wouldn't move, he didn't want his body to move. It felt painful even if there was no pain any-

Slowly he opened his green eyes, a groan involuntarily escaping his lips and mentally checked his body. Sure, he was still extremely sore, but there was no pain.

"Wakey Wakey sleepy head" Dick smirks, sitting next to his bed apparently and Wally groans out a laughter. "Glad to see you up buddy"

"What happened?" Wally asks, his arm slowly reaching up to his aching cheek. But Rob beat him to it, wrapping his hand around the ginger's wrist and pulling it down. Wally complied without question, not like he could do anything in the first place, he felt too weak.

"You were stung by the gympie gympie plant when you pushed me out of the way" His best friend started. "It's known to cause one of the worst pain known to men, so don't be ashamed of blacking out a couple of times" Wally scowls slightly.

"Dick" He spats, a grin forming without his consent.

"I'm hurt" Dick grins, putting his hand on his 'heart'.

"So am I, you said you'd call me if he woke up" Barry interrupts the two, walking over to Wally, sitting down on the other side.

"In my defense, he just woke up" Dick replies casually, shoving his chair backwards and putting his glasses back on. To be honest, Wally hadn't even noticed they were gone at all.

"You don't have to go Dick" Barry says, slightly confused as he snatched Wally's hand gently.

Dick smirks, shrugging casually. "I know, I just wanted to give you some time. I need to tell the team that you're okay anyways." With that Dick left the room, leaving Barry alone with his nephew.

"How you feeling?"

"Hungry" Wally grins and Barry laughs while shaking his head.

"Figures" He chuckles. "But how are you feeling? Pain gone?"

Wally frowns slightly at that. "I think so, I just feel very weird. And my cheek hurts a bit"

"Yea, that'll be fine. You were stung on the cheek and we had to pull the hairs out so they wouldn't release any more toxins."

"I'm the dreading the way they did it"

Barry smirks at the comment. "They waxed your face."

Wally groans dramatically, draping an arm over his e yes. "I'm ruined" Carefully he touches his cheek, feeling a light flash of pain as he touches the stung part.

"You were lucky your metabolism fought of the toxins so quickly. Dick would've felt it longer" Barry explains, knowing of Wally's little sacrifice back with Ivy. Wally grimaces at the thought. He'd rather not think about the pain but he couldn't help but wonder.. it already felt like an eternity to him.

"Speaking of Ivy, where did she go?"

"From what Batsy told me Kaldur found out about the plant a little too late, warning you guys too late. After you were stung Robin had destroyed them but there were more in the room you came from. Rob and Superboy held her off, until Kaldur arrived and ordered Rob to take you out of the building. After that they blew up the building but Poison Ivy escaped, well Kaldur made the choice of bringing you to safety first instead of going after all"

Wally smiles slightly at that, closing his eyes for a second.

"I will have to thank him for that" Wally says, shivering slightly at the memory of pain. They were all vague actually. He didn't remember much other than pain. A few voices, Dick, Artemis.

"Is Dick okay by the way? I forgot to ask"

"What do you mean?" Barry frowns, wracking his brain to figure out an injury on the Boy Wonder. But apart from the few scrapes and bruises, which were so common that nobody fussed about them anymore, he didn't seem to be injured.

"When- before Kaldur called us and Ivy attacked us Rob entered the room with the plants and he started bleeding from his nose all of a sudden."

"Well he certainly didn't tell Batsy" Barry snickered slightly, knowing that the Boy Wonder would get in trouble for that.

"But I did some research myself. There are stingers on the leaves which release those toxins and when near you can inhale them, causing rashes, sneezing and nosebleeds. That's why Kaldur blew up the building instead of Robin. His Atlantean skin is dense enough to withstand the toxins, if not exposed to too much. Supey.. well I don't think anything could harm him besides Kryptonite.

Wally smirked at that, resting his head against his pillow.

"I will get you some food. Bats said you can leave if you want but also said you might be feeling a little weak for a couple of hours"

"Uncle B?" Wally asks, stopping his uncle from speeding out of the room. Barry turns around, worried for a second until he sees the smile but tired smile on his nephew's face.

"Thanks"

Barry can feel a smile spread across his face as well.

"Anytime kiddo"

YJ

So, this was my very first story in the Young Justice fandom. Please no hate if I didn't get the characters right, but if I didn't, please tell me so I can approve. And tell me what you thought! :)

Also, I plan on making some sort of timeline for my stories. So they won't be separated, but all stories will be linked to each other. (More info on my profile description). There are also timelines on my profile so you can see when what happens.

I'm a huge KF fan so if you liked this story and Wally, you can expect more (And for the ones who know my other account, yes, those will be just as bloody and twisted) of Wally here.


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